Field
This disclosure relates to augmented and virtual reality and, more particularly, to interactions with user interfaces and augmented reality and virtual reality environments and objects.
Description of the Related Art
Augmented and virtual reality have become ubiquitous in the news and technology press since approximately 2012. However, both have intermittently been popular for several years, with interest waning, and returning several years later over the course of the last thirty to forty years. The primary reason that the technology has drawn excitement, but failed to retain that excitement due to its prohibitive cost.
Augmented reality (AR) is the blending of the real world with virtual elements generated by a computer system. The blending may be in the visual, audio, or tactile realms of perception of the user. AR has proven useful in a wide range of applications, including sports, entertainment, advertising, tourism, and education. As the technology progresses it is expected that it will find an increasing adoption within those fields as well as adoption in a wide range of additional fields.
Throughout the 1980's and 1990's film and media glamorized the coming technological revolution that would result from virtual reality technology. However, the systems necessary to use virtual reality often cost multiple thousands of dollars. Thus, the public never widely adopted the technology.
Even now, with the drastic price reductions brought on by the ubiquity of small, high-quality screens and motion sensors used in modern smart phones, virtual reality and augmented reality remain relatively obscure. One major, final problem remains in the way of widespread virtual reality and augmented reality adoption by the public. How does one interact with a virtual reality or augmented reality environment? In the not-too-distant future, every individual may have haptic suits and haptic gloves that provide physical feedback simulating the virtual or augmented reality environment in which a user is in or experiencing. But, those types of systems are still years off.
The most common interactive systems today are hand-held controllers like those of the PSVR® or the Oculus® Touch®. The problems with both of these systems is that their price points are in the hundreds of dollars and, oftentimes, the controllers are not included in the cost of the associated PSVR® headset or Oculus® Rift® headset. And, neither include the cost of the PlayStation® or the computer necessary to use the Oculus® Rift®. As a result, a user wishing to not only “see” virtual or augmented reality must pay on the order of one thousand or several thousand dollars just to enjoy the full augmented reality or virtual reality experience.
What is needed is an inexpensive, but highly-accurate system or device that may be tracked using widely-available technology so as to act as a controller or user interface extension for augmented and virtual reality devices. Mobile-based AR and VR systems like the Google® Daydream® have tried this by including a single-click remote in their overall package. At prices less than $100, these are certainly more attractive to a general audience, but still remain prohibitive for a majority of the public. A better, less-expensive technology should be possible and should provide a high-quality user experience enabling detailed interactions across multiple devices. And, detailed control schemes for augmented and virtual reality environments should exist using such a technology, without necessarily requiring a complex nest of systems and trackers.
Throughout this description, elements appearing in figures are assigned three-digit reference designators, where the most significant digit is the figure number and the two least significant digits are specific to the element. An element that is not described in conjunction with a figure may be presumed to have the same characteristics and function as a previously-described element having a reference designator with the same least significant digits.